Bibliograph

Tales from the underground, a natural history of subterranean life, David W. Wolfe

Type

Label

Tales from the underground, a natural history of subterranean life, David W. Wolfe

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (p. 189-206)

Illustrations

illustrations

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Tales from the underground

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

46984480

Responsibility statement

David W. Wolfe

Sub title

a natural history of subterranean life

Summary

Ecologist David Wolfe takes us on a tour through current scientific knowledge of the subterranean world. We follow the progress of discovery from Charles Darwin's experiments with earthworms, to Lewis and Clark's first encounter with prairie dogs, to the use of new genetic tools that are revealing an astonishingly rich ecosystem beneath our feet. Wolfe plunges us deep into the earth's rocky crust, where life may have begun -- a world devoid of oxygen and light but safe from asteroid bombardment. Primitive microbes found there are turning our notion of the evolutionary tree of life on its head: amazingly, they represent perhaps a full third of earth's genetic diversity. As Wolfe explains, creatures of the soil can work for us, by providing important pharmaceuticals and recycling the essential elements of life, or against us, by spreading disease and contributing to global climate change

Table Of Contents

pt. 1. Ancient life -- pt. 2. Life support for planet Earth -- pt. 3. The human factor

Classification

Creator